AT&T Launches FirstNet Core, Starts Controlled Migration of Users
AT&T launched the FirstNet network core one year after becoming the private partner for the nationwide public safety network, AT&T said in a Tuesday news release. The LTE-enhanced packet core infrastructure gives public safety the dedicated network it was promised,…
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separating public safety traffic from commercial traffic. The core lets public safety switch among three priority levels and enter an incident management portal to control network resources. It also will enable future capabilities like push-to-talk and z-axis location-based services, AT&T said. AT&T plans a controlled migration from the commercial network to the public safety core with a small number of users while FirstNet completes testing the core, then will move more customers in April or May, it said. In planned testing, FirstNet and AT&T “will exercise the functionality of the public safety features, measure redundancy under a variety of conditions, and validate the overall performance and resiliency of network components,” blogged FirstNet Chief Technology Officer Jeff Bratcher. “While we are moving to expedite this process, we will not sacrifice delivering a robust, first class, secure broadband experience to our public safety users.” The dedicated network “is what public safety has spent years advocating for,” said Scott Edson, executive director of the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communication System, one of five FirstNet early builder projects. “To see public safety's network core roar to life nationwide, well, there are no words for how meaningful that is.” AT&T is “proud of the quick progress we've made in this short timeframe, consistently delivering on or ahead of schedule,” said AT&T Senior Vice President-FirstNet Chris Sambar. Band 14 rollout began earlier this month (see 1803150044). Also Tuesday, Verizon announced its rival public safety core network will be available Thursday. It similarly separates public safety from commercial traffic and provides priority and preemption for public safety but uses a Verizon radio access network in bands including 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz PCS and 1.7/2.1 GHz AWS, the carrier said.